Candle firm survivors in Kentucky file lawsuit

MAYFIELD, Ky. — Survivors of a tornado that leveled a Kentucky candle factory, killing eight workers, have filed a lawsuit claiming their employer demonstrated “flagrant indifference” by refusing to allow employees to go home early as the storm approached.

The lawsuit filed in state court late Wednesday accuses the company of violating Kentucky occupational safety and health workplace standards by keeping its staff at work despite the danger of death and injury. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Mayfield Consumer Products.

Bob Ferguson, a spokesman for the company, has previously insisted that employees were free to leave anytime, and he denied that they would have faced retribution if they left.

CEO Troy Propes said the company was retaining “an independent expert team” to review the actions of managers and employees before the tornado struck.

“We’re confident that our team leaders acted entirely appropriately and were, in fact, heroic in their efforts to shelter our employees,” he said. “We are hearing accounts from a few employees that our procedures were not followed. We’re going to do a thorough review of what happened.”

The lawsuit claims the factory had “up to 3 hours before the tornado hit its place of business to allow its employees to leave its worksite as safety precautions.” The factory showed “flagrant indifference to the rights” of the workers by refusing to do so, the lawsuit said.

Haley Condor, an employee of the factory, said Tuesday that a supervisor threatened her with written disciplinary action if she went home early because storms were approaching.